


Protectiveness

by Larrklopp



Category: Norse Religion & Lore, Supernatural
Genre: Angel Wings, Angels racing each other, But it gets better quickly, Dean is supportive of angel/human relationships, Gabriel (Supernatural) is Loki, Gabriel cares about his flock, Gabriel is a badass, Gabriel is a good big bro, Gen, Humans can see wings, M/M, Promise, Protective Gabriel, Some angst, but that's about it, kind of torture, mostly fluffy, there's a knife
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2016-08-26
Packaged: 2018-08-11 03:56:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7875223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Larrklopp/pseuds/Larrklopp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone in their flock knows that Gabriel is the most protective of all of them. Basically a story showing different scenarios that Gabriel shows his protectiveness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Protectiveness

Everyone in their flock knew that, of all of them, Gabriel was the most protective. Oh, all of them would kill or die for any of the others, but even so, Gabriel outshone them when it came to protectiveness. 

All the demons and angels in Heaven and Hell knew how much he loved Sam, so it came as no surprise when he would put his life on the line to protect his mate. Whenever Sam was in trouble, Gabriel was always instantly there and making sure he was okay. However, if there was even a scratch on his hunter, then whatever caused it would hope that they were already dead because Loki had never been a nice God and justice was always swift. This also counted for angels, but Loki would at least look a little sorry and make their deaths a little faster than the average monster. 

Sam had given up on on trying to explain to Gabriel that even though people flirted with him, he never flirted back. He’d mostly given up because it was pretty funny to see how fast Gabriel could go from happy and joking around to dead serious and ready to fight someone for his man. This would go for both genders, and acting fabulously gay in front of the girls and literally punching the guys was always a hit for Sam. The girls would act so disgusted or shocked that their faces would have Sam doubling over in laughter in just a few seconds of trying to keep a straight face. The guys however would feel the need to establish their “dominance” over the pipsqueak that was trying to stop them from flirting. They would then punch him, and break their hand in the process. After one punch of Gabriel’s landed on their jaw, they generally decided Sam wasn’t worth it and moved on, usually to the boos of the crowd around the bar.

Another way that Gabriel showed his protectiveness was when it came to Sam’s dreams. Before Sam fell asleep every night, he would wrap his wings fully around the hunter, and then would spend the night watching Sam’s dreams to make sure they stayed happy and nowhere close to nightmares. Needless to say, Gabriel always made sure that Sam knew he was always loved and that Gabriel would do anything for him.

Everyone in Team Free Will remembers the first time Sam woke up surrounded by wings without any kind of warning whatsoever. He somehow teleported himself to Dean and cowered behind his brother when he saw the angels approaching. All he could say to Dean was that they had “monster chickens” in the bunker and how Sam was pretty sure that they had somehow possessed the angels. It took Gabriel and Castiel both showing their wings to get him to calm down. Of course, as soon as he did, he immediately went into research mode and wanted to know everything about them. The angels just laughed and made him a promise to answer one question every day so that he wouldn’t get bored. Dean laughed so hard at the expression on Sammy’s face that Cas turned to him and very concernedly asked if he was OK, causing Sam and Gabriel to start laughing too and Dean to just collapse on the floor from laughter. He couldn’t look at them for the rest of that day without dissolving into laughter.

 

Gabriel wasn’t just fiercely protective of his mate. He would also do anything for Castiel, and not just when it came to fighting. The angels only showed their wings to their mates when they wanted to, but never hid them from each other. So, when Cas felt sad or guilty and had his wings drooping around him Gabriel always made sure to go over and help him. No matter what he was doing, he always made time for his younger brother. This also helped Cas work off his anger, especially when he didn’t want the Winchesters to know he was mad at something. Gabriel would take him to an empty field where they would release their wings and work off all their extra energy by just flying around and playing games in the air. 

Even though Gabriel was much higher on the ranking system and Cas protested in the beginning, Gabriel would also groom Cas’s wings. Oh, he listened to Castiel’s arguments about how it wasn’t right and he wasn’t worthy to have his wings touched by an archangel, but then Gabriel would shush him and pull his little brother onto the bed so that the Trickster could help the Angel of Thursday relax. He never pushed Castiel to return the favor, but Cas never did until he eventually realized that it wasn’t some elaborate joke being played on him by the elder angel. After that day, Cas would eagerly groom his brother’s wings, and both Winchesters remember that day as one of the only days they’ve seen both angels truly happy.

Of course, both Winchesters will also remember the day that Gabriel challenged Castiel to a flying race whilst carrying their respective hunters. Neither hunter had a say in this, and after all the details were hashed out (“Gabriel you have four more wings than me.” “My hunter’s bigger!” *Side-glare* followed by “Mine’s scared of heights!” “….Alright, fine, I’ll only use one pair. Happy?” “Yes, yes I am.”) Sam and Dean had time to share a glance of panic, and then were transported to some field where all they could see for miles was just the waving grass. With a cackle Gabriel released one pair of his wings, just barely missing Cas, who jumped back with a hiss. With a glare, Cas brought out his wings and shook them out so all the feathers lined up perfectly. He then turned to Dean and motioned him over so he could pick him up. Sam glanced at the angels (the Winchesters had been arguing about giving in to Gabriel’s schemes and heights for at least a couple minutes), but then focused his attention on Gabriel, who was stalking forward with his wings streamlined behind him. Once Gabriel had gotten close, he dropped to one knee, at which point he went completely serious and asked if Sam would like the honor of being carried by an archangel. Sam just grinned, called him a dork, and pulled him to his feet. With a laugh Gabriel flipped them around so he could pick Sam up and lifted both of them into the air. 

“Come on, slow pokes! Castiel, get your feathery butt up here! Let’s go!” Gabriel started swooping around in giant circles just to get Sam used to flying until Cas finally flew up to join them with Dean, in his arms, grumbling the whole way up. Hovering in the air, he faced Cas and pointed out a mountain in the distance that the Winchesters could barely see. 

“First one to the peak wins! Also, winner gets bragging rights in Heaven for the next 100 years, so give it your best shot. Ready, set, go!”

With that, both angels took off, fixing little things in their posture that helped to make them more streamlined. Sam and Dean were just holding on for dear life, cause the angels were giving everything they got. Halfway there Cas was just a little bit in the lead, but Sam could tell that Gabriel was moving his wings a little strangely, so he asked what was wrong. With a smile, Gabriel whispered barely over the wind so that Cas couldn’t hear that they would play this game in Heaven, in which the archangels would “race” the fledglings, but the fledglings would always happen to win. 

“I can’t beat him, it holds too much meaning. Plus, making my Cassie happy is a very big priority after all these years.” Gabriel’s eyes turned a little sadder, but then brightened when he saw how close they were to the mountain. 

“Watch this, Cassie’s gonna go full speed!” He flew up so he was right next to Cas and yelled at his brother, “Hey bro, guess who’s losing?!?” With another downward push of his wings, Gabriel then took the lead. With a squawk of outrage, Cas glared at Gabriel, held Dean a little closer, and furiously started pushing through the air so that he was streaking across the sky towards the peak. Gabriel was milliseconds behind him, but still made sure that Cas touched the mountain first. With a shout of joy, Dean jumped out of his arms and threw himself on the ground where he started hugging it and babbling about how he was never going to leave. Cas lowered his wings to rest, but then realized that he touched first, and spun around with a huge smile gracing his features. 

“I did it! I beat you!” Cas was so happy that Sam could see why Gabriel would willingly lose to the younger angel. Gabriel just smiled, shook out his wings, nudged Dean over a little bit, and flopped down on the ground. He then brought out his other two pairs and laid them out so that they could soak up the sun’s rays. Not dropping his smile, Cas sat down next to his brother and laid out his wings next to Gabriel’s so that there was gold and black mixing together in a beautiful array. Sam didn’t realize that he was staring until Gabriel coughed and asked if he liked what he saw. With a blush, Sam laid down and just stared at the clouds until he could feel himself dozing. 

Looking around, Gabriel saw that all of the members of his flock were asleep. With a contented smile, he picked himself up, shook out all his wings, then got started on the task of wrapping up the two Winchesters. He wrapped them in his littlest pair of wings, curling them around each Winchester several times so he could be sure they wouldn’t fall. It was also really warm and comfortable in his wing cocoon, so he knew they wouldn’t wake up anytime soon. Next, however, was Cas. The last time Gabriel had the chance to hold another angel was several millennia ago, so he wasn’t going to waste this opportunity. He walked over to where Cas was laying with his wings all spread out. He folded Cas’s wings close to his body then cradled him in his arms like you would a baby. Carefully, he used his middle and largest wings to lift off the ground and started heading back to the bunker. After a little bit of flying, Gabriel looked down to see Cas staring at him, pensively. 

“You okay there, Cassie?” he asked, not stopping his wingbeats. 

“Why are you doing this, Gabriel?” Cas asked. Gabriel looked at him worriedly before asking what he meant. “I mean, I understand why you’re with Sam, since he’s your mate, but why are you staying with me? I don’t even have proper wings! You shouldn’t feel like you have to stay with me to feel better about leaving me. I already forgave you for that centuries ago.” When Cas had finished, he dropped his gaze to the clouds that were floating beneath them. “I-I just miss being with another angel…” Gabriel was speechless. He had unwittingly stopped moving forward, and just realizing this, he started flying forward again. 

“Castiel, you better stop that right now.” Gabriel’s voice was deadly serious, causing Cas to look at him with shock. “I am your older brother, and I know you haven’t had a lot of good experiences with archangels lately, but I will not hurt you. I completely refuse to do anything that causes you pain, and I will never willingly leave you again. When I left heaven so long ago, I missed seeing all of the younger angels. Naturally, I missed my older brothers, but I messed up by leaving all of you to deal with the other archangels by yourselves. So yes, you might’ve already forgiven me, but I will never forgive myself. And, I know it might not seem like it right now, but I care about you so much and will do anything to protect you. So don’t you ever feel like I will leave or that I don’t care about you, because I will do anything in my power to help and protect you with everything I am.” It was quiet for a couple of minutes while Castiel processed all of the emotions that came with Gabriel’s little speech. 

Wiggling out of Gabriel’s arms, the archangel started hovering confusedly. Cas’s wings snapped out and he used them to shoot forward into Gabriel’s arms. Wrapping his wings around Gabriel, trusting that the archangel wouldn’t drop him, he murmured one simple phrase into Gabriel’s ear:

“I love you too.” 

They stayed like that for a little bit; Castiel with his wings tucked neatly around the elder angel, and Gabriel with his arms around the younger, squeezing tightly. If there were a few tears shed, neither angel was going to mention it. When they eventually parted, Gabriel smiled, before shooting one of his middle wings forward to get Castiel off balance, so he could wrap the younger in his arms again so that they were in the same position as before Castiel woke up. The archangel then resumed flying to the bunker completely ignoring the grumblings of the seraph. Neither Winchester ever learned what the two angels had talked about, all they knew was that both angels really bonded over that flight and now showed their wings more often.

 

A lot of creatures assumed that Gabriel cared about Dean, but not enough to put his life on the line for him. They rationalized that since Sam was his mate and Cas was his brother, Dean didn’t really fit into that. Sam, Dean, and Cas knew that Gabriel would kill for Dean, but they didn’t really believe that Gabriel would sacrifice anything to save Dean. This all changed one fateful day when a norse goddess named Frigg came into their lives.

Gabriel was watching TV with Sam and Dean while Cas read a book, each angel with his hunter on their respectful couches, when Gabriel suddenly sat up and turned everything off in the bunker without a thought. In a second, he was standing in the middle of the room with his wings out wrapped around the others, who he brought to the middle with him. Each Winchester was cocooned in the smallest pair (one wing each) while Cas had tried to raise his wings but was blocked by one of the middle pair. The other three wings were raised in obvious aggression towards whatever threat Gabriel had perceived. He arranged his wings so that the Winchesters were mostly behind him while still able to see, and Cas was more on Gabriel’s level, but still slightly behind him. Suddenly, all the light came back on, and, along with them, a woman wearing an old white and gold norse style dress with a flowing purple cape attached around her shoulders. She had golden hair cascading around her shoulders, and a circlet made of gold which completed the queen impression.

“Frigg, what are you doing here?” Gabriel’s voice was deadly and everyone in the room could tell that he definitely wasn’t messing around. 

“Oh, Loki, what have you done? I understand if you wanted to get some humans to play with, but you had to choose the Winchesters? I know you like to “rebel” or something like that, but this is too much. They killed Odin! Why are you protecting them?” Frigg asked disdainfully. “And what’s the deal with the wings? You’ve never added wings to your profile as a god.” 

“For the record, it’s not Loki. My name is Gabriel---yes, the archangel---and these people are my family.” Gabriel let her mull over this new information, while trying to push the Winchesters farther away from the angry goddess. 

“I bet you helped your brother kill my husband, didn’t you? No matter. I will still get my revenge. Oh, I see you bonded and mated with one? Good luck with that. Humans don’t tend to live very long while dealing with immortal beings. Well, I’m not cruel enough to kill one half of a pair, so you can keep that one. And, since you’re an angel, I guess you have some attachment to the one hiding behind your wing. So, looks like I’ve got my target!” The angel-human flock had froze while she was listing people off, but they all realized who she was talking about and all moved so that Dean was at the back of the line.

“Oh, that’s adorable! You guys think you can stop me?” Frigg laughed once before teleporting right next to Dean and was gone with Dean within a second.

“Damnit, she actually took him! I thought I’d be able to talk her down!” Gabriel was visibly frustrated, but quickly got his emotions under control. 

“Uh, Gabriel, I know my Norse is rusty, but in the myths didn’t it say that Frigg raised Loki? Are we fighting your adopted mom?” Sam asked, concernedly.

“I was wondering if you would pick up on that. Well, the myths weren’t too far on this one; she was one of the only pagans who accepted my magic and actually trusted me. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to leave family before, so at least I have some experience in that area, right?” Gabriel laughed self-deprecatingly before grabbing onto Sam and Cas’s arms. “She just landed, let’s go get our missing family member.”  
They appeared in a field surrounded by snow. However, once they landed, everything got really quiet. Frigg obviously hadn’t really expected them to show up, but now that they were here she was completely on the defensive. She was standing over Dean who was laying on the ground. Gabriel could tell that he was still conscious, which meant that she had put a spell that blocked movement on him.

“Huh, so you’re serious about this whole family business. I never would’ve thought that one of the beings I considered to be my kin would betray me for a human. Well, I was just going to have some fun with this one, so if you could leave that’d be great.” She then made a gesture with her hands that was supposed to send them back to the bunker. However, Gabriel had raised his wings so that the spell hit those instead of Sam, Cas, or him. 

“You will not touch him.” Gabriel then stalked forward, wings sweeping up and stretching out showing off his impressive wingspan. Sam and Cas just made sure to get close to the ground, because they could tell this was going to be a major fight, and not getting caught in the crossfire would be a major benefit. They both trusted Gabriel to save Dean, but they knew it was going to be a big battle.

“Why? He’s just human! He deserves to pay!” 

“No, it’s not his fault the apocalypse happened, and the only one to blame is Lucifer. Go pick on him, Frigg.” Gabriel was still speaking in that deadly voice of his, and Frigg had a moment of indecision before firmly making up her mind. 

“I will have revenge, and he did enough.” With that, she yanked Dean up and had a dagger pressed up to his neck before anyone could even blink.

Gabriel stopped his advance and held himself still, but like he was about to pounce. “Trust me, Frigg: you don’t want to do this.”

“I think I’m okay with this, Gabriel,” she said with a sneer, before turning her attention to Dean. While they had been talking, Gabriel had been slowly moving his wings so that he could take off faster. When she had finished her sentence, he shot forward slamming into her right before she was going to make a cut. He scooped Dean up with one wing, keeping him close to his side while still being able to fight. He motioned with his hand and drew his archangel blade from wherever the angels kept them. Holding his blade, he warily started circling Frigg who stood in shock.

“I raised you! Like you were my own! And you repay me by not letting me kill the scum that killed my husband!” Frigg was beyond pissed by this point, and her dagger was looking sharper by the minute. 

“I warned you, don’t touch him,” Gabriel growled back. “He is my family, and I couldn’t ask for a better member of my flock!” 

At this, Frigg blasted forth a wave of power that had Gabriel whipping around and curling his body and a pair of wings around Dean to keep him safe. He turned back around and pretty much roared his challenge back at her. Keeping Dean wrapped up in one of the middle wings, Gabriel started actively trying to kill her. Both goddess and archangel were moving too fast for Sam and Cas to even watch, so they just had to hope and pray that Gabriel came out on top. The glimpses that the watching duo could see of the fighting pair showed that they were incredibly fluid and graceful in all of their movements, kind of like they were dancing with each other. It was only a matter of minutes, though, before Gabriel telepathically told Cas to make sure both Sam and him had their eyes covered. A few seconds after the warning, a bright white light lit up the clearing and everyone could breathe a sigh of relief. 

Gabriel was close to passing out by this point, so he slowly and carefully allowed Dean to get out of his wing so that he could remove the movement spell. As soon as he did, he immediately had to sit down so that he didn’t fall unconscious. Dean went with him to make sure he was alright.

“Hey man, I know it majorly sucked to uh, kill your mom like that, but um, I wanted to say thanks. You really didn’t have to do that, she was right… Also, all the stuff you said, about uh, family and all that… Well, I just wanted to say thank you. No one’s ever really defended me like that except for Sammy and Cas, so yeah.” Dean started looking for his brother and his angel because he couldn’t handle any more chick flick stuff when the archangel sitting next to him grabbed his face so that he was staring into golden honey eyes.

“You need to stop this immediately. You are family and you will always be for the rest of eternity. Everything I said was true, so get it into your thick soul that you deserve this. Yeah, I wish I didn’t have to kill Frigg, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. Family sticks together right?” Gabriel then pushed himself up so he could stand on his own. Sam and Cas finally made it over only to stare concernedly at Gabriel who was swaying side to side.

“Brother, I can take the Winchesters home so that you can rest and heal. I will have to make two trips, but you don’t need to tax yourself any more.” Castiel was very concerned for his brother, his worry only growing when Gabriel let out a bark of a laugh.

“Where do you guys think we are?” Gabriel asked to the confusion of the others.

“Uh...Norway?” Sam guessed.

“No, we’re at Niflheim. The only reason you all can breathe is because of me. I’ve had to devote a bunch of power just to make sure we all get out of this alive! Now I need to get you all home before we all die on this stupid ice planet.” Gabriel looked super tired when he finished, but he still glared at Dean when he asked the trickster if he was okay. The archangel gathered everyone in his wings and employed the rest of his strength to fly and transport them between worlds. Unfortunately, he hadn’t realized how much power he needed for transporting three other people safely, and so he couldn’t judge the landing correctly, causing him to crash land into a field about five miles away from the bunker. He made sure to angle his body so that everyone else landed without injury, but this came at a major cost to his wings. The three wings that were carrying people all received at least one broken bone, and the other three were severely banged up and bleeding. Gabriel had enough time to unroll his wings enough so that the others could get out before he promptly passed out from using too much of his power, and from the massive pain that he was experiencing. Cas and the Winchesters were able to get him to the bunker fine, where he slept for a week, complained about not using his wings for a month, and basically just drove everyone crazy. But from that experience on, no one ever doubted Gabriel’s love for anyone in his flock. 

Since then, Gabriel has turned into even more of a mother hen, and has started calling the other members his chicks. One of his new favorite activities is, when they’re all watching TV or doing some family activity, to wrap his wings around all of them and start a cuddle party. The Winchesters had originally protested, but after a while they gave up, and this firmly cemented the fact that Gabriel was definitely the most protective of them all.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Have a good day/night! Love you all!


End file.
